Defense questions FBI agent in NY cannibal plot

Updated 7:30 pm, Wednesday, February 27, 2013

NEW YORK — A defense attorney for a New York police officer accused in a cannibalism plot has questioned an FBI agent about where fantasy ends and reality begins in the federal court case.

Defense attorney Robert Baum on Wednesday attacked FBI Agent Corey Walsh's statement that 40 of the thousands of Internet communications of Officer Gilberto Valle that he reviewed contained "elements of real crimes." Baum through his questioning tried to show that it was an arbitrary decision as to what was real and what was fantasy.

Valle could face life in prison if he is convicted of conspiring to kidnap, kill and eat various women he knew, including his wife. His trial in federal court in Manhattan began this week. It is expected to last two weeks.